


Three days in a Holosuite

by Shipwreckedjavert



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Bajor, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Holodecks/Holosuites, M/M, Odo is also a dragon for a while, So basically, Theres a dragon, Theyre stuck in a Holosuite, its v gay, like suuuperrr gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 08:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12250422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shipwreckedjavert/pseuds/Shipwreckedjavert
Summary: Quark is stuck in a holosuite. Odo goes to get him, and ends up stuck in the holosuite, too. Enjoy.





	1. Claim

**Author's Note:**

> This is un-beta'd so there's probably a smorgasbord of easy mistakes in here, sorry about that. THERE'S NIGHT TIME CUDDLING THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN IN THE ASCENT, BUT WE WERE ROBBED OF THE FOOTAGE, So just heads up

 

Odo walked into Quark's one evening -as was his wont- and peered behind the bar; but there was no Quark. He craned his neck to look at the second level, no Quark. Odo watched the Ferengi waiters bustling about , heard the Dabo players yell and cheer, Morn was yammering on to some poor soul -  but there was no sign of Quark. 

He hadn't been there when Odo stopped in that morning either, and that wasn't altogether unusual, but now it had been a full 24 hours without Odo clapping eyes on the shady bartender; and it worried him.

 

Odo had reviewed all the ship manifests of recent transports, his duty as security chief; Quark wasn't legally traveling if he left the station. Usually Quark would've come to Odo and asked him to keep an eye on the bar before he departed the station anyway, especially if he left Rom behind. 

Odo continued on his evening rounds, though he slightly altered his route to satisfy a whim of the detective in him. He checked the cargo bays for Ferengi bartenders, he checked the many deserted halls that weren't in use for anything  _ official _ , and before he knew it he found himself back on the promenade, poking his head into Quark’s yet again. 

“Computer. Locate Quark.” 

“Quark is in holosuite 2” 

Of course he was. 

Odo scoffed loudly and shook his head, deciding to finally return to his quarters.  Despite the satisfactory, if disdainful, answer to Odo's search,  a nagging train of thought plagued him for his whole regeneration cycle

 

The next day, Odo meandered into Quark's at the usual time on his morning walk through the station. When Quark was still not there, Odo turned on Rom , “Where is he, Rom”

“Uuh, Who?” Rom said glancing away. 

“You're brother, Rom. Where is Quark-”

“Oh he's- well he's ..” Rom wrung his hands “he's locked in a holosuite..”

“And you didn't think This was pertinent information to report to security ? How long has he been stuck in there -”

“A-almost two days” Rom stammered  “I tried to get him out! I even tried to bypass the internal systems b-but it might have shorted out the program and ..  - he told me not to interfere with him and his program !“

“You should have come to me first-” Odo glared at him before heading for the spiral staircase that lead to the holosuites. Odo tapped his comm badge “Odo to O’Brien”

“This is O’Brien”

“I need you in Quark's. Immediately.”

“On my way-”

\---

 

 

“It looks like the program seized control of the holosuite-” O’Brien was crouching in front of a panel adjacent to the holosuite opening, fiddling with the circuitry.

“Can we override the program?” Odo asked as he watched over O'brien's shoulder .

“Well- we  _ can _ , but I'm worried about the safety of anyone who's inside the holosuite”

“That's why I stopped trying-” Rom interjected.

Odo grunted, turned his back on the pair of mechanics and began pacing. 

Odo said at last, “Can we get inside and rescue him within the parameters of the program?” 

O'Brien and Rom shared a look that lasted a fraction of a second before O'Brien shrugged and went back to tinkering in the panel. 

A few minutes later the door opened about halfway and then jammed. Without a second thought Odo took his chance and squeezed through the opening. No sooner had Odo gotten his extremities inside the holosuite when the door slammed shut again. Odo tried to pry the door open with his lit ass changeling strength but the door wouldn't budge. The door then dematerialised from the simulated environment and Odo was left alone, standing in a misty yellowing field. 

He hit his comm badge, “Odo to O’Brien” 

Nothing.

“Odo to ops.”

Radio silence.  

Odo scanned the environment with his senses, the field seemed to go on indefinitely as it disappeared into thick white fog. Odo yelled out to Quark, cupping his hands around his mouth, but his voice fell on deaf ears. 

Odo began walking, hands tight behind his back, thinking as he went along. In reports of holosuite malfunction, the protocol in a similar situation would be to complete the narrative of the program where it would then shut itself down organically. Odo looked again at the expense of the field , “what in prophet's name was Quark even doing here”. 

Odo shuddered to think what sort of narrative Quark had devised that would keep him busy in here for nearly 2 days. 

He had barely crossed a few meters of the field when Odo became bored of walking, and opted instead to fly overhead to search for Quark. A terran hawk soared over the fog , Odo flapped his feathery wings and felt the rush of freedom coursing through his body. 

He flew for a long while, to the edge of the fog, where the field suddenly became thick gnarled forest. 

Odo dropped his altitude to skim the top of the trees. Up ahead he could see a craggy knobbled mountain, it was tall, and pointy, and making a shape rocks shouldn't be allowed to make. Odo’s detective instincts told him that was where he would find Quark

  
  


“Ill pay you 10 bars of gold pressed latinum if you release me!” Quark pleaded to the empty cave, his voice reverberating off the cavern walls. “15 bars and that's my  _ final _ offer!”

Quark was sat on the dusty cave floor, his hands tied together with coarse rope and tethered to a thick wooden pole at his back; only an ancient bajoran torch to keep him company. Quark sighed and sat back against the pole, the rope rubbed at his wrists despite the safety parameters of the holosuite. 

“I thought dragons liked treasure !” Quark yelled again into the echoing abyss. “Some dragon you are, you don't even have a hoard !”

Quark looked around the room for what seemed like the 400th time that day. Dust. And more dust. 

A dust hoard. 

Not even bones from previous victims. He decided to run through the Rules of Acquisition,  _ again  _ , just to keep his mind busy. 

When he was somewhere around rule #47, the trembling of the cave walls signaled the return of his scaly captor. A huge, pitch black, scaly snout poked into the room followed by even bigger eyes and a frankly enormous neck. Quark's entire body barely amounted to a taloned toe on the dragon's foot. 

Quark laughed nervously at the return of this giant. “So where did we leave off? I believe it was” Quark cleared his throat, but his voice still came out with a distinct squeak   “20 bars of latinum?” 

The dragon paid the tiny captive no attention and simply curled up into a tight dragon lump, its body occupying the entire cavern floor with the exception of the corner where  Quark was getting acquainted with a pole.

“25?” Quark asked halfheartedly. 

\--

  
  


Odo landed his bird feet on an outcropping just above the mouth of the cave. Odo hopped down a few rocks and changed into an even smaller bird , a bajoran finch, and resolutely fluttered into the cave opening. The great open yawn of the cave transformed his otherwise quiet wings into a tremendous racket, as the fluttering was amplified by the echoing effects of the stone. Odo stopped flapping to glide on the air currents within the cave; he rounded a small bend in the corridor, and floated into a tall, round room with a glittering black hill in the middle. The hill looked like a pile of black coins , shimmering and glinting in the small, lively light of the torch on the wall. Odo spotted Quark tied to the pole not far from the torch, and realized that the hill, was not in fact a hill at all. A great big head was nestled against the not-hill -and if you followed the neck as it sprouted from the back of the head, you would see the hill was the head’s body, and both the head and body were those, of a dragon.  Huge black wings, black glossy scales; terrifying white teeth

Odo realized with horror that Quark was in the den of a beast. A holographic beast, but terrifying all the same. Odo wondering suddenly if the program had also seized control of the safety parameters , he remembered several mentioned instances of safety protocol being altered in the event of program override. If Odo had a beating heart, it would've been working over time . He perched on a high rock jutting out from the side of the cave, he peered down to the floor of the room. Quark appeared to be tied up and mumbling to himself, the dragon appeared to be sleeping; Odo was at a loss for what to do. He pondered the peculiarity of the situation.  _ What was Quark doing with a program like this? _ This wasn't along the lines of Quark's usual choice for holosuite programs.  _ What makes this program different from others? Why is it overriding the holosuite ?  _

Too many unknown variables for Odo’s liking. 

One thing was for certain, Odo needed to get the dragon as far away from Quark and the cave as he could manage. Odo started to grow bigger- emulating the dragon's form but at about an 8th of the size. Odo’s beige scaly body began to slither down the wall , closing in on the dragon below him. When we was merely a few feet away from the dragon's head , he paused.    

He stared at the dragon, puffed himself up; flexing his scales, talons, claws. Odo took one moment to steel himself before suddenly jumping on the snout of the dragon (which he himself was no bigger than )- a great yellow eye snapped opened on Odo, only a few centimeters from where his claws dug into the unscaled flesh of the dragon’s face. Odo's proverbial heart leapt into his approximated mouth and he released his hold on the enormous dragon and flapped off down the cavern corridor as fast as his wings could carry him. The dragon bellowed loudly, and followed the intruder to the mouth of the cave, slamming into the sides of the cave wall and causing several large rocks to tumble into Odo’s path. He burst through the cave mouth without a second to spare as the dragon reached the opening and crossed the threshold.  It spread its enormous wings preparing to take flight.

At the first beat of wings , trees on either side of the beast bowed and groaned under the power the wings possessed. Odo was flapping frantically, trying to get a meager foothold on the distance between him the enormity of the holographic beast.

One. Two. Three. Four wing beats; The dragon was barreling toward the comparably smaller and squishier dragon. Odo- in less time than it took to breathe- dropped out of the air like a literal stone, because that's what he became, and was hurtling towards the tree tops. The dragon continued on its previous path, eyes searching for the tiny infiltrator among the countless trees

Odo turned back into a terran hawk with no time to spare. He raced like a mad bird back to the mouth of the cave . Odo dared not look behind him , he pressed on , beating his wings as fast as his goo body would allow. He altered his altitude, gliding again on the air currents flowing through the cavern corridor, and stopping right outside the enormous room where Quark was tied up. 

Odo was starting to understand the narrative of this holoprogram , and he always had a bit of flare for the dramatic, so, as Odo took on his humanoid form once again he fashioned himself a sword and shield. 

Classic wood plank shield with a metal medallion centered on the front, long broadsword in a leather sheath; looking very much like a knight from a Bajoran novel. Still in his uniform though, of course. 

Odo sauntered into the room like he was entering the bar- well technically the holosuite _was_ _in_ the bar- and approached Quark like _he_ was serving drinks from behind the counter. 

“Ah,” Odo said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “a damsel in distress-”

Quark suppressed a smile and glowered at him, saying grumpily “Finally, my knight in…  _ beige _ armor.”

Odo huffed and looked away concealing a smirk. He leaned down and tried to untie Quark from the post, however the knot wasn't cooperating with Odo and seemed to get tighter on Quark's wrists with every pull. 

“Hey!” Quark tried to jerked his hands out of Odo's grip  “Watch it you boneless goo - OucH!”

Odo rolled his eyes again. The beige knight stood up and drew his sword, Odo gripped it in both hands with the point aimed down towards the knot , he jerked the sword downwards, through the rope, and into the post. Quark wriggled out of the binds and lightly rubbed his raw wrists , hissing in their general direction. 

“Are you alright ,” Odo asked in earnest.

“Am I alright?! No! I'm not alright ! I've been tied up in a cave for .. I don't even know how long ! This crazy holosuite program went  _ way  _ beyond whatever I paid for it and I never want to step foot in this place  _ ever _ again! Oh, and did I mention the dragon that's going to kills us  _ both _ now!” 

“Hm, not if I can help it “ Odo nodded along to his statement stiffly “I think I know how to get the program to end by itself “

“Well, thank the prophets !” Quark said rolling his eyes “We have constable Odo here to arrest the big bad dragon !”

Quark's voice echoed through the cavern, adding an extra layer of grandiosity to the words; Odo stared hard at Quark. Without a word he scooped the short Ferengi up and was toting him out in a fireman's carry, through the winding cavern corridor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this hilarious doodle of this giant dragon tying this tiny knot on a tiny bartender... If you were wondering


	2. Evidence

“Dammit Odo, put me down !” Quark squirmed against Odo’s shoulder.

Odo picked up his pace, he could just make out the faint light streaming in, they were only about 3 meters from the opening when a tremor shook the craggy corridor. Odo stopped just in time for a medium sized boulder to fall from above and wedge itself into the dirt at his feet, Quark resumed his squirming with gusto.

Odo sat Quark down on the boulder and shifted back into a small dragon; he grabbed Quark,  _ softly,  _ with his teeth, and set him on his back just above where his wings were sprouting from his upper back. Quark gripped the semi-scaled neck tightly and let out a small whimper as a long silhouette shrouded a portion of the cave mouth. 

Odo waited as the dragon craned its neck in from above the opening , Quark held his breath. 

The change in the angle of the dragon's head allowed just enough leeway for Odo to dart in between the cave floor and the dragon’s face and out into the dusky evening air. 

Odo wasted no time in angling his trajectory straight into the thick forest canopy as the dragon once again bellowed out a mighty roar. Before the dragon could even move its head out of the cave hole to see where it's prey had escaped to, Odo was crashing through the forest layers. Quark gripped Odo's dragon neck with renewed terror , and Odo braced himself for inevitable impact. 

 

When Odo made contact with the forest floor, Quark was flung unceremoniously from his back and sent flailing into the underbrush. 

Odo found Quark, about a meter away, picking twigs out of his clothes. 

“Nice of you to drop by,” Quark said with as much sarcasm as he could muster with his ass stuck in a bush. 

Odo offered a hand to Quark and pulled him upright. An errant twig was resting in the divot in Quark's butt head and Odo flicked it off, watching it fly into the now-misshapen bush. 

They looked at each other for a second in silence , Quark cleared his throat . 

“What are you doing with a program like this ” Odo gestured to the forest vaguely , a look similar to awe on his smooth features. 

Quark opened his mouth to speak, unconsciously reaching to lightly stroke his lobes, “well, i- if you really have to know- I actually bought it for you.”

Odo looked at Quark, first with confusion, then with a knowing-smile on his face “very funny Quark-”

“Let me clarify ,” Quark held his hands  “I bought it for you, to  _ pay me _ to use -”

Odo scoffed and turned away from Quark, but he was still smiling. Odo spread his arms like he was basking in the sun “Where did you even get something like this -”

“I ordered it from a catalog -” Quark scratched the back of head .

Odo chuckled to himself , looking up at the fading light that was barely making it through the canopy of leaves. Odo looked at Quark again suddenly with a puzzled looked on his face “the program should have ended -”

“Why would it-”

“When I rescued you from the dragon-” Odo stepped towards Quark, “that should've completed the story- Computer, end program”

The computer made no noise of acknowledgement.

“Maybe the story  _ isn't  _ complete _ ?”  _ Quark offered after a moment of speculation.

Odo rolled his eyes, grabbed Quark by the collar, and pulled him roughly till they were almost nose to nose “tell me what you know -”

Quark put his hands up to the constable’s chest, “I don't know anything-”

“Quuark,” Odo glared at him “ you said you bought it _for_ _me_ , you must know _something.”_

“I know that it's based on one of those Bajoran romances you're always reading” Quark's hands were still on Odo's chest, “I'm not sure which one, but I read in the catalog that it was highly rated -”

Odo clenched his fists in Quark's jacket even tighter, “why did it override the holosuite system?”

“How should I know !” Quark yelled. 

Odo grunted in dissatisfaction but released Quark's disheveled garment. The bartender jerked his jacket back down and smoothed down the creases , grumbling to himself. Odo gripped his hands behind his back and started pacing “we’re probably going to be stuck in here for the night -”

Quark threw his hands up dramatically “great, another night with Rom in charge of the bar-”

“We should try to put some distance between us and the dragon before the sun goes down ,” Odo walked deeper into the forest in the opposite direction of the cave. 

“Hey- Wait for me!” Quark managed to squeak out .

“Stay there-” Odo's gruff voice commanded from a shroud of simulated plant life. 

Quark could hear rustling and Odo's specific sloshing noises , then Odo emerged riding a brown and white spotted Bajoran Steed. 

Quark had to admit, it was pretty hot to see Odo straddle a horse

 

Odo picked Quark up by the scruff of his outfit like he weighed nothing and sat him on the horse's backside, nestled nicely against the constable. The horse took off at a light clip, Quark lurched backward and threw his arms around Odo's midsection to keep from flying off the back of the horse. 

It was silent except for the rustling of leaves as they passed through thick growth. Quark pressed his face into Odo's uniform and squeezed his arms a little tighter around the changeling. It was only then that it occurred to Quark that the Bajoran Steed was just an extension of Odo's body. 

Quark got a weird thrill from the thought. 

 

\----

 

The sun was still hovering just above the horizon, but the forest was almost completely dark. Odo slowed as the last remnants of light disappeared. He shifted the horse back into himself and Quark slid off the goo horse’s dwindling form. 

“Do you know how to build shelter?” Odo asked. 

“I can't even see, Odo, how am I supposed to build shelter?”

Odo sighed. He didn't need to regenerate for another 8 hours , but by the time Quark woke up in the morning Odo would be a puddle. 

“Come here Quark-” Odo waved him over, though it was too dark for him to see. Quark hesitated and Odo repeated, “Come on.”

Quark slowly , uncertainly, stepped closer to Odo. 

Odo grunted, “lie down.”

Quark's eyes bulged out of his head, “hey! What's the big idea-”

“I will- attempt to form a shelter for the night,” 

“Why Odo, I never thought I would get the chance to sleep inside of you ,” Quark smiled devilishly at the scoff he got in response. He lowered slowly to his knees- his heart beat slightly elevated- and finally flattened out on the ground at Odo's feet.

Quark could hear the goo sloshes as Odo formed a small enclosure around him. Quark instantly felt safer. 

“It's a little weird being in here alone ya know -” Quark moved some of the rocks out from under his head and arranged himself as comfortably as possible. The goo noises could be heard again as Odo’s humanoid form became an extension of the tent.  

“Odo I don't suppose you could .. Also, shift me blankets or something ,” Quark rolled towards what he hoped was Odo.

Odo chuckled and scooched closer “I wouldn't get my hopes up”

Quark felt two hands grab the front of his jacket again, and pull him against a scratchy uniform. The Ferengi tensed as the changeling wrapped his arms around Quark's  shoulders. 

“Odo-” Quark face was pressed awkwardly into the shifted fabric and his words came out muffled “what are you doing-”

“I'm keeping you warm” 

“Barely-” Quark started to turn his body away and Odo worried he had actually offended the Ferengi. Odo pulled away automatically but Quark grabbed his wrist before he could go anywhere “don't move.”

Odo stayed still while Quark repositioned himself, now with his back pressed to Odo's front. Quark then pulled Odo's wrist he was still holding down over his side into a spooning position. 

Quark sighed in contentment and relaxed against Odo. The constable nestled his face into the back of Quark's neck and listened to the rhythm of the Ferengi’s breathing. His breathing slowed as they laid in the little goo tent, and a tiny, irregular snore began to interrupt the silence.

Speaking as the impartial narrator, it sounded _ adorable.  _

Odo smiled, he began to shift a sheet under, and a blanket over Quark. Instantly the air around Quark started to warm,up from body heat.  Quark sighed and pulled the Odo blanket tight around himself. If Odo could blush, he was sure he would have been. 

 

\--

 

When the sun was high enough and began to stream through the trees, Quark was starting to come around. Quark was cold , he was groping blindly for a blanket- suddenly he stuck his hand into.. Something?

Quark's eyes flew open- he was laying on the ground in the forest with his hand in a puddle.

He yanked his hand away, “What the hell-!”

He sat up and looked at the shimmering amber, “Odo?”

Quark, smirking, experimentally stuck a finger in the goo again. Odo crawled up his hand, Quark tried to jerk his hand away but Odo pulled back just as hard. 

“Hey!”,Quark tried to wipe the Odo off his one hand with his other hand but Odo grabbed that too. Quark just sat, stunned, two hands stuck in a puddle, his legs bent into a crouching position on either side of arms. He was completely still; Quark was no fool, he knew this would just escalate to Quark being completely immobilized by Constable Goop. 

They sat like that for a long minute.

Odo relaxed his goo grip and Quark retracted his hands slowly. 

“Okay,” he nodded at Odo “no touch-y - I understand.”

They sat in silence, again, Quark glanced at Odo several times and fidgeted with his hands. 

“Well.. What are we supposed to do now..?” Quark felt stupid talking to a puddle, “you probably can't even understand me -”

“Quark,” the raspy voice was weak, the puddle formed a loose interpretation of a head and mouth. He leaned close to the puddle trying to hear the gurgling word, “Quark, just let me rest for a few hours -”

“Yeah.. sure -” Quark nodded absentmindedly to the vaguely head shaped blob as it sunk back down into the rest of the puddle. 

-

His stomach growled insistently , and Quark looked around at the small clearing where he had awoken. He lifted the largest rock, and plucked a few thick grubs from the bottom of the rock- replicated grubs weren't great, but they would do for now. 

Quark wandered around the forest clearing, never straying more than 30 meters; picking grubs from the underside of rocks , sipping dew from the bowl shaped leaves. ~~

When Quark meandered back into the clearing the sun was directly overhead and the forest was illuminated by leafy green lighting. Odo's puddle was shimmering in the spotty sunlight , and Quark sat down next to him and watched in fascination. 

The glittering amber goo entranced the Ferengi, and they spent a long time in silence.  

After about an hour, the puddle began to ripple. The gelatinous figure of Odo's pre-form began to rise up out of the puddle, Quark craned his neck back as the figure towered over him and began to solidify. 

Odo looked Quark over appraisingly and offered his hand out to the sitting Ferengi. Quark hesitated for a second, before placing his hand firmly in Odo’s. The changeling pulled Quark to his feet , and squeezed his hand lightly before he let go and dropped his arms to his side.

“I only rested long enough for a half cycle so we have to move quickly. Time to get out of here,” Odo said in confidence as he shifted himself a sword and shield again. 

Quark smirked at him -only a  _ tiny bit _ turned on, “so- what's the plan”

“Well, usually the hero must save the damsel, but, as you said, maybe this story requires something  _ extra.  _ I'm guessing that also,means .. I have to slay the dragon.” Odo grimaced. 

“How on Bajor are you supposed to kill that thing-” Quark looked genuinely worried. 

“Im.. Not sure “Odo looked down at the broadsword at his side “but we’ll figure something out.”

They stared into each other's eyes intensely. Odo broke the eye contact and turned around, his hind end extending into a bajoran steed once again. Odo smirked at Quark and patted the empty spot on the horse's back.  Quark wriggled onto the horse’s - _ Odo's -  _ back and hugged the humanoid bit tight around the middle. 

Odo galloped towards the mountains , bounding over rocks and debris effortlessly. Quark squeezed Odo and screwed his eyes shut, dreading every leap and landing. 

 

\---

 

The pair neared the edge of the forest, where the trees began to drop away into tall grass, and where the tall grass faded into scattered rocks. 

Quark and Odo crouched behind a boulder on the edge of the tree line, watching the mouth of the cave. 

“What now?,” Quark whispered to Odo, even though they were several dozen meters from the opening. 

“I'm thinking ,” Odo said impatiently. 

“How big can you shift ?”

Odo grunted, “not that big.. At least-I don't think so. I can't get bigger than the holosuite anyway, even if I could match sizes with the dragon.”

Silence loomed between them as they each pondered the circumstances of their situation. Odo stood suddenly , “stay here-”

“Odo- wait!”

“Quaark.  _ Stay here _ \- Stay hidden.” Odo drew his sword and nodded to the Ferengi. 

Quark reluctantly sank back behind the rock and watched Odo navigate the rocky terrain leading to the cave. 


	3. Conclusion

Odo peered into the cave, then looked back across the rocks to the boulder were Quark was hiding. Odo opted for the direct approach, no sneaking in as a bird , and walked in with his sword drawn. Odo accidentally kicked a few pebbles that clacked against the wall , and he paused , listening for any sounds of movement. It was silent up ahead, so Odo resumed his guarded advance into the dragon's den. He rounded the slight curve in the corridor and could finally see straight into the giant cavern room. 

It was empty. 

Odo rushed forward into the room, no dragon to be seen. Panic swelled within Odo and he started to run back through the corridor; at the same time, a familiar tremor shook the mountain. Odo could hear the gigantic beast scrambling through the corridor , and turned back around and ran into the cavern room again. Before Odo could shift into anything smaller the dragon was upon him- the constable raised his shield against the snout of the beast as it plowed into the changeling. Odo stumbled backwards and rolled into the momentum,  coming back to his feet in a graceful maneuver.

He swung the sword aggressively and the dragon instinctively reeled back from the glinting weapon. The dragon, undeterred, lunged with deadly white teeth- Odo swiped the dragon on the side of the face with his broadsword and a deep gash appeared in its wake. The dragon roared and Odo took his chance to get closer to the opening of the corridor. The beast snapped its teeth, narrowly missing his shield, and Odo managed to get another swipe in across the dragon’s nose.

Odo started backing out of the room and into the hall when he bumped into- “Quark! I told you to stay put!” 

“Well, I saw the dragon come back while you were still in here and- “ Quark was cut off by Odo pushing him behind the shield just as the dragon roared out a fiery hellstorm that channelled down the corridor.  Flames blasted at Odo’s shifted shield and he grunted in discomfort as he struggled to maintain his form against the temperature.

The fire began to die down and Odo heaved backwards, leaning heavily on Quark.

“Odo-” Quark grunted, and tried to pull the changeling further down the hallway as the dragon geared up for another blast. 

Odo regained some of his footing and grabbed Quark around the waist, making a run for the exit. Odo breached the threshold of the cave and dropped himself and Quark down the slight slope leading to the cave just as trail of flames bloomed from the mouth of the mountain. Odo tried his best to break Quark's fall onto the rocks , which he managed for the most part but the Ferengi was not without his cuts and future bruises. 

Odo wasted no time in dragging Quark up and onto the forming Bajoran horse and taking off towards the forest as fast as the the six legs could go. Odo didn't look back to see if the dragon was following, he just kept running. With his left hand he was clinging to the arms Quark had wrapped around his torso.

Odo hadn't felt that afraid in a very long time.

Odo was afraid when he realized he had been trapped by the dragon , he had felt fear when he was forced to fight with the blade, but he was truly terrified when he knew that the only thing standing directly between Quark and a fiery end, was himself. 

Odo squeezed Quark's wrist as the aftershock of terror coursed through his goo body.

~~

Odo wasn't sure how long he ran but the sun was starting to dip low again and the forest started to fade back into the yellow grass lands that Odo had entered in originally. Odo slowed to a trot in an area that had about 20 trees spread out over several square meters. 

The two of them looked a sight- Quark had a big cut on his brow and his clothes were completely ruined, Odo looked slightly  _ singed  _ on the edges.  His 6 bajoran steed’s legs collapsed beneath him and slowly Odo began to sink into a puddle again- 

“Odo- Odo,” Quark cupped the changelings face as his torso rippled and sunk.

“Its okay, Quark-” Odo's voice was more gravely than usual “I just need to rest”

The last word was a sort of sticky gurgle as Odo's lips melted into the rest of him. 

Quark flung himself down next to Odo and sighed.

“I knew it. We're never getting out of here.” Quark watched the sky , imagining spending the rest of his life trapped in this holosuite with Odo.

Quark wasn't completely against the idea. 

Quark smiled at the puddle oozing in the sand and grass. He couldn't help but smile at the strangeness of it all. 

Quark fell asleep next to Odo as the sun dipped below the horizon. 

 

Quark woke up in a warm blanket and for a good several minutes he was convinced he was in his bed in his quarters, and all that holosuite nonsense had been a dream. Then 

he rolled over and felt the arms that were also draped around him. He cracked his eyes open to see Odo's half lidded eyes looking back at him. Quark's heart fluttered violently and he sucked in a breath. 

“You should be regenerating -” Quark nagged him warmly. 

“All done,” Odo smiled softly at him and Quark's heart wrenched again. 

Quark was suddenly too hot to stay under the .. Odo blanket.. and he scampered out of the Odo tent and took some deep breaths. 

The sun wasn't quite up yet but Quark was wide awake all of a sudden, for  _ some reason…. _

He heard the tent shifting and then Odo was behind him. 

It was silent for a beat, then,

“Are we ever gonna get out of here,” Quark said it more than asked it. 

“I don't know,” Odo's voice was uncharacteristically small behind Quark. 

He turned to the changeling, “look, for now, let's assume the dragon  _ can't  _ be killed ; what are some other options ?”

Odo clasped his hands behind his back to think. 

Quark scratched a lobe, “the catalog said it was based on a bajoran story. Do you recognize it at all? Maybe we can get a clue as to the ending -”

“Bah- its generic, Quark” Odo leaned his chin on his hand, one arm propped on the other  , “it's not any _ specific _ story. More like a generalization of an entire subgenre.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth a lightbulb went off inside Odo's head- bajoran  _ romance _ novels. Maybe that's how he could complete the program -

Odo cast a sidelong glance at the bartender, his face illuminated by the dawn's ambient lighting. Without warning Quark, or giving himself time to chicken out, Odo grabbed the Ferengi and pulled his face to his own. He leaned his forehead on Quark's and the Ferengi’s breath hitched. Odo slowly, tentatively, pressed his mouth to Quark's and an electric thrill passed through the both of them. Quark’s eyelids slid closed slowly as he leaned into Odo’s embrace. He began to take the lead sensing Odo's timidity; he deepened the kiss and Odo grunted into Quark's mouth.

A few seconds later someone cleared their throat from behind the two of them and they both froze - O’Brien, Dax, Rom, and Captain Sisko were all standing on the other side of the doorway to the holosuite, barely containing their smirks. Quark pulled his tongue out of Odo's mouth and Odo straightened up from where he was leaning down towards Quark. The two of them stunned into silence, neither one of them releasing their hold on the other as they stared at the group of spectators gawking at them

“So this is what has kept you  _ busy  _ for two days ,” Sisko tried to sound authoritative but it was marred by the playful smile that threatened to overtake his face. 

“It certainly looks ..  _ engaging  _ ,” Dax smirked at Quark's torn clothes and cut face. 

Odo stepped out of Quark's arms suddenly “well, glad to see that worked.” Odo hit his comm badge “Odo to Bashir”

“Bashir here,” 

“You're needed in Quark’s, bring a med kit- but it's nothing serious.”

Odo pushed Quark roughly out of the holosuite. Odo turned to O’Brien “confiscate this program, there are overrides for all safety parameters. Not to mention the holosuite control override - Have it sent to my office for evidence, when you can. Thank you, Chief.”

Odo nodded stiffly to him and pushed Quark along the walkway, “hey- what gives?”

“Don't think you're off the hook, Quark” the pair made their way down the spiral staircase to the ground floor of the bar. Odo sat Quark down in a chair near the back wall where there was no table. Julian entered the bar and scanned the milling patrons, he spotted Odo and walked over.

When Julian got a good look at Quarks face he gave Odo an expression of disbelief,  “that holosuite program did this to Quark?”

Odo nodded, Bashir waved his dermal regenerator over Quark's brow ridges; Odo watched in relief as the cuts and scrapes started to heal and then fade completely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah i might add a little extra epilogue cause it just peeters out at the end but I havent gotten around to it yet so  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Author's Note:**

> https://realshadeslimmy.tumblr.com/post/171425522762/i-drew-all-of-these-forever-ago-and-i-never-got-a  
> illustrations for dis mess


End file.
